Copyholder



y 1944- F. BLACK 2,347,730

COPY HoL DER Filed March 31, 1945 Bnventor FRA/YAA //Y 5146A,

upper edge. is detachably connected to the base panel ad- ,iacent the front edge thereof by providing on Patented May 2, 1944 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE COPYHOLDER Franklin Black, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application March 31, 1943, Serial No. 481,303 2 Claims. (oi. 120-39 This invention relates to devices for supporting sheets, notebooks, books and the like, at a convenient angle for easy reading and is particularly useful to typists for holding their copy.

An object of the invention is-to provide an effective copy holder that is inexpensive to manufacture, lends itself to construction from nonmetallic materials and is collapsible into flat compact form when not in use.

Another object is to provide a simple and effective line guide for a copy holder.

Briefly, the invention comprises three sheets or panels hinged together so that they can be folded flat against each other, or opened into a working position, in which one of the panels forms a base for supporting the lower edges of the other two panels, the latter extending upwardly in the general form of the letter A, and one of them (the front one) constituting an inclined wall for holding the copy. The rear edge of the base panel is permanently hingedly secured to the lower edge of the panel forming the rear wall of the A and the upper edge of that panel is permanently hingedly secured to the.

front wall member at a line closely adjacent its The lower edge of the front panel the front margin of the base panel a transverselyextending block. of wood or the like having a groove therein into which the lower edge of the front panel fits. The block may have a much Wider groove in front of the groove that supports the front panel for receiving the open edge of an open book leaned against the front panel and holding the book in open position.

As a line guide, I employ two transverse strips of Celluloid or the like interconnected by two strings, one of the strips lying against the copy on the front panel and the other strip lying against the rear panel and the connecting strings extending up over the top edge of the front panel so that one strip counterbalances the other. By virtue of the fact that the two strips are substantially counterbalanced, and that the frictional resistance to movement of the strips is considerable, they will remain in any position to which they are moved.

A full understanding of the invention may be had from the following detailed description which refers to the drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a copy holder in accordance with my invention, in position for use;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device folded fiat; and

Fig. 3 is an end elevation ofthe device in condition for use.

Referring to the drawing, the device comprises, as its main essential elements, a front panel I0, a rear panel H and a base panel I 2, with the upper edge of the rear panel ll hingedly connected to the rear surface of the front panel "I a short distance below the upper edge of the panel H3. The lower edge of the rear panel II is hingedly connected to the rear edge of the base panel [2.

The lower edge of the front panel I0 is adapted to fiteasily into a transverse groove l3 in a base block l4 secured to the upper surface of the base panel I2 at the front edge thereof. By virtue of the hinged connections between the upper and .lower edges of the rear panel H with the front panel [0 and the base panel [2, respectively, the device firmly retains its working shape, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, when the lower edge of the front panel [0 is positioned in the groove IS.

The block I4 may be glued to the base panel In addition to the narrow transverse groove l3 for receiving the lower edge of the front panel H3, it has a relatively wide shallow groove l5 extending from end to end for the reception of the lower edge of an open book, when the book is leaned against the front panel In.

When not in use the device can be collapsed into flat condition as shown in Fig. 2 by lifting the lower edge of the front panel it] out of the groove I3, swinging the front panel In and the rear panel ll to carry the rear surface of the front panel against the front surface of the rear panel and then swinging the base panel I2 about its hinged edge connection with the panel II to carry the under surface of the base panel flat against the rear surface of the rear panel II. If desired, the device can also be collapsed by merely lifting the lower edge of the front panel l0 out of the groove i3, swinging it back against the panel H and then swinging the panels Ill and l I forwardly and downwardly as a unit until the front face of the front panel rests against the block [4.

The line guide comprises a pair of identical strips H3 and 11, respectively, which are connected together by a pair of light strings or cords 18 which extend over the upper edge of the front panel It and are preferably guidingly supported against lateral displacement by small notches IS in the upper edge of the panel. The front strip [6 will rest on top of the copy and, if the copy consists of a single sheet of paper lying against the front face of the front panel I0, then the guide It will help to retain it in position. The guide it is adjusted by grasping it with the fingers and sliding it up or down into desired position. During this operation the strings I8 slide across the notches I9 and the rear strip H rises or falls accordingly. When the front strip Hi is released it will remain in Whatever position it was moved to.

The front panel It may advantageously have scales thereon to indicate the numbers of the lines and the numbers of letters in a line. Thus, at the top of the panel there may be three scales 2e, 2! and 22, extending transversely on each side of a center line 23. The top scale 20 is merely an inch scale reading from at the left end to 8 at the right end. The scale 2| is a type scale for pica type reading from 0 at the left end to 80 at the right. The scale 22 is for elite type, reading from 0 at the left end to 96 at the right. Similar scales 24., 25 and 26, may be provided at the bottom of the panel.

On the left side of the panel there may be a pair of vertical scales 2'! and 23 showing the number of lines of typing on legal size and letter size paper, respectively. Similarly along the right edge of the front panel there may be a pair of vertical scales 29 and, 39, respectively, reading in inches and corresponding to the lengths of legal and letter size paper, respectively.

Various types of construction may be employed, but an imminently practical construction employs cloth covered cardboard as the panels I0, H and I2, and Wood for the block M. By extending the cloth covering continuously over the rear edge of the base panel 12 and the lower edge and the upper edge of the rear panel H to the rear surface of the front panel It], the cloth covering can be made to constitute a hinge for interconnecting the rear panel to the base and front panels. The front face. of the front panel In jmay consist of a suitably imprinted sheet of cloth or paper glued to the front surface of the panel.

As has already been described, an open book is supported by the front panel in conjunction with the wide groove E in the block i4, and

single sheets of copy paper are laid against the front panel with their lower edges against the block l4. When a top-opening notebook is employed with the device, it is ordinarily most convenient to simply suspend the notebook from the top edge of the front panel but, if desired, such a notebook can be simply leaned against the front face of the panel with its lower edge in the wide groove l5 of the block I4.

Various slight alterations in the particular construction described will be apparent to those skilled in the art and the invention is, therefore, to be limited only as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a copy holder comprising a front panel extending upwardly and rearwardly for supporting a copy member thereagainst, and a lin guide comprising a pair of strips of substantially equal weight and extending horizontally, said strips being interconnected by a pair of strings adjacent the ends of said strips, said strings being adapted to extend across and be suspended by the top edge of said front panel with one of said strips lying against the copy on said panel and the other strip being suspended by the strings at the rear of the 'panel.

2. A device of the type described comprising a 7 base panel adapted to lie flat against a supporting surface and having rear and front edges, a rear panel extending upwardly and forwardly and having a lower edge hingedly secured to the rear edge of said base panel, a front panel extending upwardly andrearwar-dly, means hfngedly securing the upper edge of said rear panel to said front panel adjacent the upper edge thereof, a block secured to the upper surface of said base panel adjacent the front edge thereof and extending transversely across said base panel, said block having a groove therein for releasably receiving the lower edge of said front panel, in which the upper edge of said rear panel is .hingedly connected to the rear surface of said front panel at a line displaced from the upper edge of said front panel, and a line guide comprising a pair of strips of substantially equal weight and extending horizontally, said strips being interconnected by a pair of strings adjacent the ends of said strips, said strings being adapted to extend across and be suspended by the top edge of said front panel with one of said strips lying against the copy on said panel and the other strip being suspended by the strings at the rear of the panel.

FRANKLIN BLACK. 

